


You Hear my Heart

by Lokisarmy0602



Series: By Your Side [25]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 30 Day OTP Challenge, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-08
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2018-02-20 10:05:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2424743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokisarmy0602/pseuds/Lokisarmy0602
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Between the trees, at midnight, he found her all alone. Shaking, tired and looking lost. He offered to walk her home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Hear my Heart

**Author's Note:**

> 30 day OTP challenge - Steve/Maria. Day 25
> 
> Gazing into each others' eyes - Side by Side
> 
> Set in the middle of the dancing prompt and midi-night kiss on the roof top.

Between the trees in Central Park, Steve walked along the small gravel path. The wind rustled through the golden brown leaves. It was autumn, Steve's favourite time of the year. The leaved were a beautiful colour, one falling off a near by tree and drifting down to the path in front of him. He took a deep breath, the fresh air feeling nice within his lungs. The sky was dark, night setting in. The busyness of New York forgotten as he walked along the path. He was alert for any noise that wasn't the wind or near by animals, yet he loved walking through Central Park at night. No people around at this time, not like in the day. It was more peaceful at night and Steve liked it like that.

It gave him time to relax which was what he needed right now. The Avengers, though they were his friends, got a little too much for him sometimes. Everything got too much for him at some point. He would talk to Sam but at this late of night, he didn't want to wake the other man.

As the path opened up to the main part of the park, the moonlight glistening on the lakes surface, he heard a sniffle. He scanned the area, trying to find the source of the sound. He came across someone sat on a wooden bench just in front of a cluster of bushes. He found them all alone, shaking and hunched over on the bench.

"Hello?" He asked the woman who was turned away fro him. He had seen that figure before, had admired the strong shoulders and straight posture. Yet not this figure, hunched and trembling, shaking from the cold wind. "Maria?" Steve asked and the woman lifted her head slowly to look at Steve. Their eyes met and Steve saw the pain and grief within the sliver blues which were normally filled with confidence and determination. She was tired and broken, looking lost.

Steve walked towards her slowly, not wanting to push her into talking to him or being with him. He sat down on the opposite end of the bench, keeping his distance. He knew how she was, if he tired to comfort her he would probably get shot in the face. He waited and listened to her breathing steady as she stopped crying, not wanting Steve to see her like this.

"Are you ok?" Steve asked quietly to her, his voice getting carried in the wind. He knew it was the most stupid question to ask. Clearly she was hurt and upset. So no, she wasn't ok, but he had to ask to break the ice. Maria nodded, still not facing him. She shifted before taking a deep breath.

"I'm fine," Maria told him. That last time he had seen her was at the party Stark had thrown and the two had dance together in the middle of the dance floor.

He wondered what was the matter with her, why she was so upset. However he didn't need to know what was up or know her deepest secret's. All he did need to know was that she was upset and needed comfort. He wanted to take all the burdens she had and throw them away, comfort her and make sure she was ok.

"Would you like me to walk you home?" Steve asked. He knew she didn't need him to walk her home. She didn't want r need protecting, yet something deep within him old him he had to make sure she got home safety. Maria took a deep breath and turned to look at him. He gazed at her sliver blue eyes, which were slightly watery from her tears. She looked so broken. He had never seen her like this, never this weak.

"I can get home perfectly fine," she said, shaking slightly from the wind and breaking eye contact. She went to stand and Steve did too. He slipped off his coat and moved to place it around her shoulders. She didn't push him away which he took as a good sign.

They walked in silence. Side by side. They walked through the park to the exit and into the street in perfect but comfortable silence. The back of her fingers brushed past his, her hand cold from the wind. He wanted to take hold of them and hold them close. They didn't say a word to each other as they wait for the red little man light to change to green.

They cross the street just as a rumble comes from above them. Steve hears Maria let out a sigh, shaking still even with his coat wrapped around her.

He wondered how long she had been sat outside in only jeans and a deep blue t-shirt. The streets passed in a blur as Steve glanced down at her at the same time she glances up.

Their eyes lock once again. Her eyes are no longer watery but there was still pain within. Steve gave her a gently, reassuring smile. She doesn't reply to it, looking away from him. He didn't except anything from her. She didn't have to smile if she didn't want to, even though Steve loved her smile.

Five minutes later they get to her apartment building and she say thank you to him. Just as he was about to leave another rumble comes from above and this time, the grey clouds that had been threatening New York since this morning finally release. Rain pouts down and it pours down harder each second. Maria ducked and takes cover by the door step. Steve looks up at the rain and sighs.

Great.

"Do you want to come in?" Maria asked him. Her voice was soft and her nearly missed what she had said over the thunder and lightening. He looked over to her to see her holding the door open for him. He nods and quickly runs up the steps to her apartment building and steps inside.

"The elevator doesn't work and I'm on the sixth floor," Maria informed him as she leads the way to the stairs. Steve follows her to the top floor and waits for her to unlock her door. She pushed it open and held it out for Steve. He walked in and the door shut softly behind him.

Clean. Tidy. Everything in it's place. That's a soldier for you, Steve thought to himself a small smile coming to his lips. Something brushed up against Steve's leg and he jumped slightly. He looked down to see a black and grey long haired tabby cat looking up at him. the cat circled around his ankles, purring as it brushed up against him. He then bent down to scratch the purring cat behind the ear. It brushed up against his bent knee and then walked around him.  
"I didn't know you had a cat," he said as Maria walked back into the living room, two blue mugs with steam rising from the hot liquid inside.

"She's my neighbor's," Maria told him as she placed the two cups of hot chocolate on the table. "Called Rascal," Maria said and then picked the cat up. "She sometimes comes here through the window," Maria said nodding her head to the fire escape. "I'll just take her back," Maria said before walking out of the apartment. Steve turned away from the shut door and sat down on the sofa. He picked up one of the blue mugs and rested it on his lap, hands wrapping around them to take some of the heat from the hot chocolate Maria had made. He took a sip of it. He could feel the hot liquid warm up his inside's, running down his throat to his stomach. He spotted Maria's gun placed on the coffee table, the bullets taken out and laying next to it.

The door opened and Maria stepped in. She slowly slipped Steve's jacket off and placed it on the coat rack next to the door. She walked over to the sofa, moving around Steve to sit the furthest away from the door. She picked up her own cup of hot chocolate and took a sip.

The rain pounded against the window, filling the comfortable silence. Half a cup of hot chocolate later Maria final spoke,

"What were you doing at Central Park at 1 in the morning?" She asked him, her face showing no emotion. Steve turned to look at her, eyes meeting again.

"I find it more peaceful at night rather than in the day, less people I guess," Steve told her and she nodded. She blinked and pulled her eyes away from his baby blues. "If I may ask... why were you there?" Steve asked, wondering if her was pushing a little too far

"I needed to clear my mind," Maria said and Steve nodded. After a couple of minutes Maria spoke up again, lying "My grandma die today... I've been putting off going to see her, telling myself I would go soon... She was basically my mother and everything was just getting to me," Maria said and then took a sip of hot chocolate. "It's stupid I know." Mara mumbled softly into the dimly lit apartment.

"It's not and I get it, sort of," Steve said.

She felt guilty about it. Lying to Steve. She hadn't come to terms to it yet, not being able to have kids wasn't something that bothered Maria. She had never wanted kids, however just the thought of not being able to have kids upset her.

Maria turned her head. Their eyes caught again and Steve gazed into the beautiful sliver blue eyes. "Everything gets to you at some point and I have to get out somehow... I always go to Central Park," Steve told her as she stared into his eyes.

"That's why you were there tonight," Maria stated, not being able to take her eyes away from his.

He had read on the internet that if you look into someone eyes for long enough without breaking contact, you would eventually fall in love with them. Steve hadn't believed it and had closed the window without reading any more. However, as he gazed into Maria's eyes right now he started to doubt his first opinion on it. It it was true then Steve was experiencing right now.

Was Maria feeling the same way? Steve asked himself this as she blinked. He took a chance and lead towards her. He looked for a signal, something, anything. She started to lean towards him. They both closed their eyes at the same time but the only thing that came next was a flash of lightening and then thunder about two seconds later.

They broke eye contact, looking away from each other.

"You can sleep here if you like," Maria said a couple of seconds later. "I can find some blankets from the cupboard," Maria told him, standing up and walking over to the cupboard. She pulled out two thick black woolly blankets and then shut the door. "Only if you would like to though," Maria said.

"I would love to," Steve said to her. "And I don't really want to walk all the way back to the tower in that," Steve said gesturing to the pounding rain outside. Maria only gave him a slight smile before holding out the blankets. Steve stood up and walked over to her. He took the blankets from Maria. "Thank you," Steve told her.

"No problem. Night Steve," Maria said before walking over to her bedroom.

"Maria..." Steve said to her and she turned around to look at him. He walked towards her, dropping the blankets on the sofa. He came to a stop in front of her before pulling her into a tight friendly hug. She froze for a second before relaxing and hugging him back. He realized that he really had needed a hug and, based on how tight she was hugging him back, Maria needed one too.

"I'm sorry," Steve mumbled to her as she placed her head between his shoulder and neck. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, his head bowed down.

"It's ok," Maria said, even though Steve knew she was just saying that. Her perfume reminded him of roses, her hair was down lose smelling like apples. Steve liked it.

She closed her eyes, feeling at total peace with his arms around her. She felt protected and safe, her worries were still there just fading to the back of her mind. He's body was warm against hers and she lost track of where her body stopped and his began. A couple of minutes later Steve pulled away and looked down at Maria.

"Night Maria," he said.

"Night Steve," she said back to him before turning and walking into her bedroom. Steve set up his bed on Maria's sofa. It wasn't as soft as his bed at Stark Tower yet it felt even better than that expensive mattress Tony had bought for him. He wrapped himself in the blankets and closed his eyes. His mind didn't focus on the howling wind, or the rain, or the thunder. He didn't have any nightmares. What his mind did focus on and dream about that night for the second time since their dance and not the last time was...

Maria Hill.


End file.
